MSNBC host explains our fixation with the bombers’ roots

posted at 6:01 pm on April 21, 2013 by Jazz Shaw

I know you were all worried. The entire week has gone by and you’ve doubtless been haunted by nagging fears over exactly why you were so upset with the Brothers Tsarnaev and their recent actions in Boston and Watertown. I’m sure, like many, you were concerned that you might be unfairly judging them for their origins or Muslim connections. Fear not! You’re just fine. As MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry helpfully explains, these factors have nothing to do with recent events.

Making the point that the Tsarnaev brothers’ Muslim faith at the moment bears little relevance to the investigation into the brothers’ decision to attack the Boston Marathon last week, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry observed that Tsarnaev’s faith is about as relevant to the investigation right now as are Ben Affleck movies about violent events in Boston. Her panel guests agreed, and said that Americans have to “otherize” violent actors in order to absolve themselves from responsibility for or connection to their violence.

“We don’t really know,” said Harris-Perry, throwing her hands up about the discussion into the Tsarnaev’s motives. “The younger brother, he’s getting all kinds of tweets from his friends. I think part of the answer is that it’s still an open question.”…

“Given that they’re Chechen, given that they are literally Caucasian, our very sense of connection to them is this framed up notion of, like, Islam making them into something that is non-[unintelligible],” Harris-Perry continued.

“The point is that it’s important to say, ‘that is not us,” Dyson agreed. “We want to demonize the other. We have to distance it from the dominant culture.”

Look… I don’t know what sent the Tsarnaev brothers over the edge, and everyone on both sides claiming that they already do know is putting the horse several miles before the cart. But over the edge they went and attempts to brush that away are flatly dishonest. And that applies to both sides, including Harris-Perry’s. It’s still entirely possible that the older brother was getting most of his information off the internet and the younger one tagged along. (That still doesn’t make him less eligible for a new office six feet underground, as I noted before.) But to pretend that much deeper, more sinister ties aren’t still a possibility, if not a probability, is willful blindness. Did the older brother spend those six months visiting with Dad or at a training camp? We don’t know yet, but further, detailed investigation may yield some answers.

But the newest MSNBC star can’t seem to relinquish the red flag on this one. Sure, it would have been great for her running meme if the bombers had turned out to be Tea Party supporters from Alabama (and some white supremacist cred wouldn’t hurt either) but that ship has already sailed. They’re either locally inspired crackpots or foreign trained fanatics. (The sleeper cell theory is the worst case scenario, and one that’s being explored now, but we’ll have to wait to see what is turned up.) But leave it to the MSNBC weekend crew to make sure we can turn this into a reason to promote progressive politics.

Lest you think I’m taking it out of context, here’s the video, courtesy of Mediaite.

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Comments

Sorry but i can find no verifiable evidence that Barry is any more “intellectually evolved” than a garden-variety 12-year-old girl.

Stu Gotts on April 21, 2013 at 9:42 PM

Yeah the gushing adoration made it clear that he’s a Belieber. His temper tantrum over losing on gun grabbing in the Senate was only missing a dramatic storming off and slamming the door to his bedroom (Mooch must have been in there at the time and who would want to be behind a closed door with that?). He speaks of the UN as you would if you have no understanding of international affairs. He thinks there are 57 states and Hawaii is in Asia.

I, in fact, know of 12-year-old girls who are far more intellectually involved than the the rat-eared coward.

Never underestimate the ability of Democrats, liberals, progressives (whatever they are this week) to change things around. Let’s never forget, it was White Southern “DEMOCRATS who created Jim Crow laws and segregated the South. Once the Democrats got the black vote, they suddenly turned it into Conservatives, and by inference Republicans. There are many people today who believe that little slip. It took them a while to accomplish it, but they have and they get 90% of the black vote because the republicans were stupid enough not to fight them on it.

Never, ever trust the American public to have the sense to see through the lies of liberals, they’re really good at it.

There was an Israeli man on the radio the other day. He said that in the middle east they have a saying. If the Muslims lay down their weapons there would be peace. If the Jews lay down their weapons there would be a massacre. Just say’in!

The Tsarnaev brothers lived in one of the bluest parts of one of the bluest states in the country. If there was something about the dominant culture that made them go bad, wouldn’t that be the “blue” culture?

The real problem is they settled in an area which doesn’t normalize love of America.

Which just cuts to the core of being American. If I were campaigning to be chancellor of Germany, the Volks would understand me slipping up on how many city-States and Laenders there were if I campaigned as a transplanted German from anywhere else. But if I claimed to be German to the core while an immigrant it would be unforgivable to get something so elementary wrong.

So tell me again, just how American is that half white kenyan? He certainly didn’t spend his formative years here. It was much easier for him to hate America than his own American bred peers because he had no attachment to her to begin with. And you expect him to feel anything for the “plight” of black Americans? Just words and platitudes nothing from the heart beyond Moochelle and the girls.

WTF?
What color is Melissa?
What color is Gosnell?
How ’bout Tiger Woods?
Who’s watching these geniuses on MSNBC?
The Tsarnaev brothers could be green for all I care; They’re scum and deserve to die an ugly death.

The Tsarnaev brothers lived in one of the bluest parts of one of the bluest states in the country. If there was something about the dominant culture that made them go bad, wouldn’t that be the “blue” culture?

The real problem is they settled in an area which doesn’t normalize love of America.

I was just calming down after a got a stronger version sent to me but it was from a source I have doubts about.

You know what? COMMENTARY SELLS *and gets ratings).

Comcast or HBO should have an American Idol – like show for talent like that and some I have seen around here. I am not talking about the blind Obama/Bush whacking (pun) but informed, unjaundiced views and with no blinders on.

It funny that while this bombing could have been perpetrated by anyone… it was 2 Muslims that did it.

And this specific crime had all the MOs of what Muslim terrorist attacks would have… and no other group, including those that have in the past done random bombings of civilians would have so completely met the MO of what AQ has been recently calling for…

But it’s not honest to point the finger at Muslims on this… I think that is the gist.

I knew a Muslim with a Harvard MBA who loved first edition books, wore impeccably tailored clothing, loved P. G. Wodehouse, drank tea and was quite the refined gentleman in all respects.

I have another few in my general orbit who would love to live in the same sort of society you guys could envision for the US.

The problem is the festering radicalism endemic to their home areas.

I think our POTUS and the majority of the elites around the world are hoping that they can prevent the kind of conflagration which it took to to neutralize the hatred in similar cultural clashes, the most recent being the two world wars.

The elites should apply a stronger form of the propaganda analgesic we are served by our own media to the local media, religious and political leaders over there.

We are bandaging a case of something in the world and I pray it is acne and not gangrene.

The Tsarnaev brothers lived in one of the bluest parts of one of the bluest states in the country. If there was something about the dominant culture that made them go bad, wouldn’t that be the “blue” culture?

The real problem is they settled in an area which doesn’t normalize love of America.

Arghh. Caucasian is not a skin color. White is a skin color. Caucasian describes the shape of the bones of the face and skull. To wit, ALL Whites are Caucasians, but not all Caucasians are White.

Sanjay from India is a Caucasian but noone would ever say he’s white.

JohnBrown on April 21, 2013 at 11:37 PM

On my census form I put down American. A month or so later some dude from the census called me and asked what race I was. Again I said American. He said are you white? I said American. Then I said if you have a spot for a race as Argentinian than American is just as good. End of conversation.

Yes. I did not watch this show. A black person I know quoted the black guy on the show as saying ..being an African American, we know about terrorism and can identify it…” and they all ooooed and ahhhhed in agreement.

This person said that they must be living in the church bombings of the 60s or something and they sure should remember the struggle and deaths but to act like it has anything to do with understanding this is pretty crazy. All the Klan had was a few hateful clowns.

She said that the Klan didn’t take out big buildings with suicide bombers in New York or have a few billion supporters in another part of the world working on nukes.

I told her that I bet they skirted the kind of hate this crime indicates.

These liberals are searching so hard to find something in reality that fits their narrative it’s comical, like teasing a cat with a laser pointer. Rush used to say that liberals are dangerous when in power and loony when out of it.

Well, now we have both from them at the same time!

Maybe it’s me, maybe I’m noticing it more. But since the last election, liberals seem to have finally gone off the deep end. They got their precious Obama for a second term, yet liberals are acting nuttier every day. It’s almost a desperate hysteria among them, of late. They seem more…needy, to me. The constant whining and crying reminds me of a bratty screaming kid who wants his sippy cup, then throws it at you when give it to him. And the brat keeps crying!

I really don’t know what to make of this any more. But, all I can say to Melissa Harris-Perry is…

Maybe it’s me, maybe I’m noticing it more. But since the last election, liberals seem to have finally gone off the deep end. They got their precious Obama for a second term, yet liberals are acting nuttier every day. It’s almost a desperate hysteria among them, of late. They seem more…needy, to me.

Liam on April 22, 2013 at 12:29 AM

I see the same thing. I cannot honestly say I understand.
Theoretically they got it all. Party Hearty every night at the WH

Is it Obama? The economy? The endless war?

Liberals are the ME people. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to hit ME?

Dunno. I have had relatives blow up on me. Not for saying anything. But for being a living symbol of the opposition. I keep my mouth shut, and they still go at me.

This means trouble. A cornered rat fights the dirtiest. They aren’t all rats, but they are cornered by something.

Something is going on, that’s for sure. It’s not political, and it’s not social. There hasn’t been a natural disaster that changed the world and created so much angst. I’m of the view that it’s something spiritual, something in those intangible places of conscience. Whatever it is, there is something very seriously wrong with liberals of late, over and above their usual.

Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out. Let these lefties continue to expose themselves. Obama’s hissy fits, liberals like this one, Toure, Matthews, Moore etc do not come across as reasonable people.

Did MY kid tell you that, Melissa Harris-Perry? Because my neighbor has been raising him and before that, he was staying at old man Crother’s house and he came back with fleas and a horrid case of alcoholism. My other neighbor had him last week and the kid says f*ck every other word now and he lies constantly because we accidentally locked him in the basement while the old lady and I went to the mountains for the weekend. Since then, he squirrels away food and I even saw him trying to lure the family cat into his room in case we left him again. It’s not my fault. I thought he was still staying with that drunk, Crother’s.
Anyway, he lies. So do you, lady.

Something is going on, that’s for sure. It’s not political, and it’s not social. Liam on April 22, 2013 at 1:52 AM

I think that it is psychological. Their Messiah is in office, and yet the unicorns haven’t slid down the rainbows bearing pots of gold, and their perfect progressive utopia hasn’t been created yet. There are still things that aren’t FAIR, and that’s not fair! Why hasn’t their god made it fair yet??? They will never, ever see that it is their own policies that are failing, and so they turn their frustration and disconnect onto the “enemy”, the divisive, obstructionist republicans. Since everything they do is emotionally driven, they can’t separate political policy from personal relations. I think it will get worse before it gets better, if it gets better at all.

There was an Israeli man on the radio the other day. He said that in the middle east they have a saying. If the Muslims lay down their weapons there would be peace. If the Jews lay down their weapons there would be a massacre. Just say’in!

I’m sure they were just upset at not having tickets to the first Socks game or something. Isn’t that right, Melissa?

Nomas on April 22, 2013 at 7:16 AM

Nothing so trivial. As proud Muslim American immigrants they were upset that sequestration was going to curtail the hours that the Bunker Hill monument and USS Constitution are open to the public. They were doing it for us. So sayeth the MSM (who are desperate to make this anything but an instance of terrorism by the religion of peace).

Does this Melissa Harris-Perry happen to occupy the same plane of reality the rest of us all live on? Because this lady is so totally over-the-top unclear on the concept on all known levels, it is actually impossible to even make fun of her!

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t this the same waste of space who held an Anita Hill – 20 Years Later anniversary conference and declared – with a straight face – that because the militant feminists were wrong about Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton they’re right about everything else?

The Tsarnaev brothers lived in one of the bluest parts of one of the bluest states in the country. If there was something about the dominant culture that made them go bad, wouldn’t that be the “blue” culture?

myiq2xu on April 21, 2013 at 10:19 PM

Don’t forget John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban”. He grew up in the San Francisco area. It would seem that lefty areas of America supply a curiously large share of the nation’s intolerant religious terrorists.

I don’t care what color they where or are!
They are radical MUSLIMS and MUSLIMS are who we need to watch and investigate!
We need to get into the mosques and other places they gather and get the intelligence we need!
Cut the politically correct crap!

Does this Melissa Harris-Perry happen to occupy the same plane of reality the rest of us all live on? Because this lady is so totally over-the-top unclear on the concept on all known levels, it is actually impossible to even make fun of her!

pilamaye on April 22, 2013 at 7:37 AM

Keep in mind, this is the same woman who made the whole “kids belong to the community” shtick before, and then doubled down in an editorial, and the libs of course came flocking to the defense of her platitudes, rather than the actual meaning and ramifications of her statements.

When it comes to platitudes, they provide a literally-unhittable moving target, saying in one breath that “oh, they’re not talking about government doing everything for you, they’re talking about helping Old Man Johnson shovel his snowy drive”, and then in the next breath, “of COURSE government is the tool we use to help each other, that’s what it’s FOR!” They insist that they never mean for “government” to be interchangeable with “community” like some pinko commie bastard or something, but will never state that they believe we have a responsibility to each other apart from government, and/or name something they think a community should provide, but not through a government program.

“Given that they’re Chechen, given that they are literally Caucasian, our very sense of connection to them is this framed up notion of, like, Islam making them into something that is non-[unintelligible],” Harris-Perry continued.

So, let me get this straight….

They bombed the Boston Marathon because….they were white? Islam had nothing whatsoever to do with it?

Really???

Keep in mind, folks….the people in charge of this country right at this moment believe everything she said. They see absolutely no reason to question any of it.